Rug package



N. C. PIKE RUG PACKAGE Sept. 12, 1944.

Filed May 22, 1942 INVENTOR. [V5.44 Cl BKE.

fi kq -w ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 12, 1944 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RUG PACKAGE a 7 Neal C. Pike, Wyoming, Ohio, assignor to Carthage Mills Incorporated, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 22, 1942-, Serial No. 444,037

Claims.

My invention relates to the problems of packaging rugs and in particular to printed felt base rugs. Hitherto it has been the practice to roll the rug and enclose it in a cylindrical container formed of two cardboard tubes of the same diameter, each being closed at one end. The tubes come together at some point intermediate the lengthof the package and are usually held together by a strip of gummed tape, pasted circumferentially to the tubes at the line of juncture between them. Suitabl labels are pasted to the tube and the Package is ready for any sort of shipment, in the sense that the rug is adequately protected from damage for shipment by rail or water, or by truck.

Such a package, however, represents a relatively high cost per rug. The cardboard tubes have to be of sufiicient thickness to provide a relatively high degree of rigidity, and this not only makes for expense, but utilizes a considerable poundage of paper material which has valuable uses in connection with defense.

I have made an investigation of methods of marketing felt base rugs and'have found that in a very large number of instances the original shipping package is not a factor in the delivery of the rug to the ultimate consumer. A very large percentage of felt base rugs, especially the lighter ones, which are by nature inexpensive, is sold in stores or departments of stores in which'the'rolled rugs are kept in asubstantially horizontal position in large racks. The shipping package is efiective in getting the rug undamaged to the retailer, but the retailer in many instances removes the shipping package prior to the sale of the rug, and stores the rug along with many others in the bins or racks. .This is rendered advisable for a number of reasons, one of them being that a considerable factor in the sale of felt base rugs is the examination of'the rug itselfby the Purchaser. This xamination does not usually involve unrolling the rug; but the purchaser in most instances insists upon seeing the rug itself prior to purchase in order to judge of the pattern thereof, and is not content to buy a rug from a printed representation of its pattern, even though such representation be large and in full color. Hence the retailers have found that the removal of the shipping package, together with any Wrappings which may completely cover th rug, is helpful in retail merchandising. A very large quantity ojf'the rugs when soldare-actually carried from the, store, or department by the purchaser and are taken home on his own car: but where deliveries are made by the store, it has been found readily possible to exercise sufficient care in handlingto deliver the rugs in proper condition even though they are in rolled but otherwise unprois a display'medium in itself, the provision of "diameter.

a package which acts, as it Were, as a reservoir for rugs so that all rugs sold from it with the exception of the last, may be sold and delivered in wrapped and labeled condition, thereby promoting consumer acceptance, and the provision of a package which may be employed instead-of the usual huge racks or bins, to permit the stocking and storage of a very much larger number of rugs in a smaller space with the betterment of store conditions and appearance and with greater ease in handling and merchandising.

These and other objects of my invention which will be set forthhereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art by'reading these speci fications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts'of whichI shall now describe an exemplary embodiment. Reference is made to the accompanying drawing wherein v Figure 1 is an elevational view of a rug package with parts cut away. I

Figure 2 is a partial sectional view of the end of the package of Figure 1, the view beingtaken alon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Figure3 shows a package in the condition in which itwill be used for display and merchandising, but with the package tilted down to the.

horizontal to permit the ready removal of a rug which has been sold.

In my package I employ outer closed end tubes similar in construction to those which have hitherto been used in packaging rugs, but of larger Thus my package may comprisetu'be sections 3 and 4. These sections may be closed at the ends with wooden plugs 5. The sections are arrangedto meet at about the middle of the package Where they may be fastened together by gummed tape 6 or other sealingmedia. One of the tubes may be skived on the outside and the other skived on the insid so as to produce V will hereinafter be apparent.

' The outer rug should,

. rugs in rolled condition, one inside the other. This not only enables me to ship a relatively large number of rugs in a single package, the cost of which i not significantly greater than the cost of the individual rug packages heretofore employed, but enables me to provide a package which can be used both as a display fixture and the usual unsightly and space consuming bins.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated five rugs I, 8, 9, l

and H rolled respectively to dilferent diameters each otheriand and placed concentrically within within the container.

In preparing the rolls for packaging it is my practice to provide at the end of the process of producing the rugs and at the packaging point a'winding machine provided with wooden mandrels of varying diameters. These wooden'mantively snu ly in the tubular container for a reason which will hereinafter be made clear.

By proceeding in the manner indicated I have now arrived at a package which comprises a single tubular container 'but which serves asthe shipping package for a plurality of rugs. The shipping package will be as satisfactory a protection to the rugs as the individual shipping packages currently in use. When the package comes into the hands of the retailer, however, he will open it by removing the band 6 and one end of the tubular container. He now has a package such as that shown in Fig. 3, in which the remaining end of the tubular container may be employed as a stand for the rugs. Since the outer .rug is unwrapped, it will be on display as to half its length. .The retailer can stand the package as a means for the storage of rugs, eliminating drels ,are readily exchanged in the machine. I

may begin by rolling'a rug around a mandrel, say three or three and one-half inches in diameter. When. the rug has been rolled it is then preferably wrapped with paper, which may be joined at its meeting. edges with a line of tape. It'will'then have pasted to it the usual decorative label or labels and may bestamped with such data as, to the weight of the mg, the pattern etc., as is'..usual in the trade. The paper wrapping may be'longer'than the axial dimension of the rug when rolled, and the ends of the paper may be turned into the interior of the rolled rug. Sucha rolled rug is then removed from themachine', a larger mandrel is inserted, say a mandrel four and one-half inches in diameter, and another rug rolled and similarly packaged. By thus using mandrels of different sizes I may roll up a plurality of rugs into rolls of different diameters.

' When the mandrels are withdrawn the rugs may 7 having an outside diameter of approximately ten inches. I have found it advisable so to roll my j rugs that there is left a' space of about'oneeighth inch all around between the inside diameter of an outer rug and the. outer diameter of an'inner-rug as packaged.

All of the rugs which are to go in-a single packrugs.

ageare preferablywrapped and labeled as indicated excepting the'outer rug. 'This rug is preferably not wrapped or labeled for a reason which When a number of the rugs have been wrapped and nested as'indicated, I may merely roll up the outer rug of the package on the rolled inner rugs and then slip the rug. Needlesst'o say, the outer rug can be rolled on a mandrel if desired. 1 I

however, fit comparaportions of the tubular container over the'outer up against the wall and need not provide the huge racks which have been current in the trade. In this way he not only conserves a great deal of floor space since five or six rugs may be stored in the space formerly required for two, but he has the advantage of adequate display and general improvement of the appearance of his store. Moreover, the outer rug is on continuous display, as itwould not be in a rack from which in most instances it is necessary to remove the rug if it is to be seen by the consumer. It will be understood that the continual removal and replacement of rugs in the racks tends to mar and scratch their surfaces and is a distinctly undesirable feature of present day merchandising methods. 7 This is eliminated in my package. I have found that there is no difliculty aboutthe maintenance of the open rug packages in upright condition and that these open packages will stand firmly 'on their ends providing the outer. rug fits the container" fairly snugly, and thatthe center of gravity is kept substantially within the center line of the package, in spite of the removal of the As the rugs are sold, the innermost ones are removed first. In fact, the nature of the package makes it most convenient to do this.

When a consumer has seen a rug which will serve his purpose all that it is necessary to do to efiect' delivery of the rug into thehands of the consumer is to tilt the package downwardly and remove theinnermost rug. Therug s0 removed will be in fully wrapped and labeled condition, whichis a distinct advantage of my invention.

Where rugs are kept in racks they either must be unwrapped for display purposes, or the paper wrapping torn away in part. The consumer receiving the rug from my package receives one in fresh, completely wrapped and labeledconditionr This greatly increases consumer acceptance. Furthermore, the perfect wrapping serves as a protection to the rug whether it be carried away without departing from the spirit of it.

v Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire a to secure by Letters Patentis:

1..In cornbination in a rug package, an outer j tubular containerandfa plurality. of rolled rugs innested, co-axial relationship therein, each of Modificationsmay bemade in my invention 7 bular container divisible intermediate the ends of the package and a plurality of rolled rugs in nested, co-axial relationship in said container, there being sufficient space between the outside diameter of each inner rug and the inside diameter of each outer rug to permit removal of inner rugs without disturbing outer rugs, and said tubular' container having closed ends upon which the 15 package may rest.

3. In a rug package, the combination of a tu-, bular container divisible intermediate the ends of the package and a plurality of rolled rugs in nested, co-axial relationship in said container there being sufiicient space between the outside diameter of each inner rug and the inside diameter of each outer rug to permit removal of inner rugs without disturbing outer rugs, and said tubular container having closed ends upon which the package may rest, one section of said container being removable whereby the surface of the outer rug becomes visible for"pattern examination while said package is standing upright.

4. In arug package, the combination of a tubular container divisible intermediate the ends of the package and a plurality of rolled rugs in nested; co-axial relationship in said container, there being suflicient space between the outside diameter of each inner rug and the inside diameter of'each outer rug to permit removal of inner rugs without disturbing outer rugs, and

said tubular container having closed ends upon which the package may rest, one section of said container being removable whereby the surface of the outer rug becomes visible for pattern ex-- amination while said package is standing upright, the outer rug of said assembly fitting said tubular container sufliciently snugly, and the assembly being such that the center of gravity thereof remains substantially on the axis line in spite ofthe removal of inner rugs from said container. 5. In a'rug package, the combination of a tubular container divisible intermediate the ends of the package and a plurality of rolled rugs in nested, co-axial relationship in said container,

said rugs being rolled in such a manner that inner tainer, each of the inner rugs being wrapped to maintain its rolled diameter, there being sulficient space between the outside diameter of each inner rug and the inside diameter of each outer rug to permit the successive removal of inner rugs without disturbing outer rugs.

NEAL C. PIKE. 

